A Journey of a Thousand Miles
by chapion-of-apollo
Summary: A journey of a Thousand Miles begins with a single step. Percy always has taken everything pretty literally, so he decides to follow the advice. He'll become something on his own, build himself a great life. What will he do when the gods come knocking?
1. Chapter 1

_**Hello, readers. Something you'll need to know, this story is set in the future, so instead of 2009, it's set in 2019. I hope you enjoy!**_

**8/18/2019, end of the Titan War**

I stood there, feeling almost empty. I knew what I was feeling wasn't healthy, but I couldn't help it. Hearing Annabeth admit that she still loved Luke out loud hurt. Hurt in a way I had never imagined possible. She was acting cold and distant towards me, probably since I was the one who killed him, getting a lucky shot and slicing through his Achilles heel. I was suddenly brought back to the real world

"PERCY JACKSON!" Poseidon announced.

All talking died down. The room was silent except for the crackle of the hearth fire.

Everyone's eyes were on me—all the gods, the demigods, the Cyclopes, the spirits. I walked into the middle of the throne room. Hestia smiled at me reassuringly. She was in the form of a girl now, and she seemed happy and content to be sitting by her fire again. Her smile gave me courage to keep walking.

First I bowed to Zeus. Then I knelt at my father's feet.

"Rise, my son," Poseidon said. I stood uneasily.

"A great hero must be rewarded," Poseidon said. "Is there anyone here who would deny that my son is deserving?"

I waited for someone to pipe up. The gods never agreed on anything, and many of them still didn't like me, but not a single one protested.

"The Council agrees," Zeus said. "Percy Jackson, you will have one gift from the gods."

I hesitated. "Any gift?"

Zeus nodded grimly. "I know what you will ask. The greatest gift of all. Yes, if you want it, it shall be yours. The gods have not bestowed this gift on a mortal hero in many centuries, but, Perseus Jackson—if you wish it—you shall be made a god. Immortal. Undying. You shall serve as your father's lieutenant for all time."

I stared at him, stunned. "Um . . . a god?"

Zeus rolled his eyes. "A dimwitted god, apparently. But yes. With the consensus of the entire Council, I can make you immortal. Then I will have to put up with you forever."

"Hmm," Ares mused. "That means I can smash him to a pulp as often as I want, and he'll just keep coming back for more. I like this idea."

"I approve as well," Athena said, giving me a look that could be akin to pity.

I thought about the Three Fates, and the way I'd seen my life flash by. I could avoid all that. No aging, no death, no body in the grave. I could be a teenager forever, in top condition, powerful, and immortal, serving my father. I could have power and eternal life.

Who could refuse that?

Then I looked into my few good memories in my life. Montauk with mom, helping Paul fix his car, building Ikea shelves with him. Baking cookies and ruining them with mom.

"No." I said.

The Council was silent. The gods frowned at each other like they must have misheard.

"No?" Zeus said. "You are . . . turning _down _our generous gift?"

There was a dangerous edge to his voice, like a thunderstorm about to erupt.

"I'm honored and everything," I said. "Don't take this as an insult, but I don't want to be so powerful, but so powerless at the same time. You gods have power that we can't understand, but you can't use them to help the world. I don't want that."

"I do want a gift, though," I said. "Do you promise to grant my wish?"

Zeus thought about this. "If it is within our power."

"It is," I said. "And it's not even difficult. But I need your promise on the River Styx."

"What?" Dionysus cried. "You don't trust us?"

"Someone once told me," I said, looking at Hades, "you should always get a solemn oath."

Hades shrugged. "Guilty."

"Very well!" Zeus growled. "In the name of the Council, we swear by the River Styx to grant your reasonable request as long as it is within our power."

The other gods muttered assent. Thunder boomed, shaking the throne room. The deal was made.

"From now on, I want you to properly recognize the children of the gods," I said. "All the children . . . of all the gods."

The Olympians shifted uncomfortably.

"Percy," my father said, "what exactly do you mean?"

"Kronos couldn't have risen if it hadn't been for a lot of demigods who felt abandoned by their parents," I said. "They felt angry, resentful, and unloved, and they had a good reason."

Zeus's royal nostrils flared. "You dare accuse—"

"No more undetermined children," I said. "I want you to promise to claim your children—all your demigod children—by the time they turn thirteen. They won't be left out in the world on their own at the mercy of monsters. I want them claimed and brought to camp so they can be trained right, and survive."

"Now, wait just a moment," Apollo said, but I was on a roll.

"And the minor gods," I said. "Nemesis, Hecate, Morpheus, Janus, Hebe-—they all deserve a general amnesty and a place at Camp Half-Blood. Their children shouldn't be ignored. Calypso and the other peaceful Titan-kind should be pardoned too. And Hades—"

"Are you calling me a minor god?" Hades bellowed.

"No, my lord," I said quickly. "But your children should not be left out. They should have a cabin at camp. Nico has proven that. No unclaimed demigods will be crammed into the Hermes cabin anymore, wondering who their parents are. They'll have their own cabins, for all the gods. And no more pact of the Big Three. That didn't work anyway. You've got to stop trying to get rid of powerful demigods. We're going to train them and accept them instead. All children of the gods will be welcome and treated with respect. That is my wish."

Zeus snorted. "Is that all?"

"Percy," Poseidon said, "you ask much. You presume much."

"I hold you to your oath," I said. "All of you."

I got a lot of steely looks. Strangely, it was Athena who spoke up: "The boy is correct. We have been unwise to ignore our children. It proved a strategic weakness in this war and almost caused our destruction. Percy Jackson, I have had my doubts about you, but perhaps"—she glanced at Annabeth, and then spoke as if the words had a sour taste—"I move that we accept the boy's plan."

"Humph," Zeus said. "Being told what to do by a mere child. But I suppose . . ."

"All in favor," Hermes said. All the gods raised their hands.

"Um, thanks," I said.

Athena spoke up again, "That wish, while the wish he chose, was not for him. I say we give him one more wish, for his personal use and not for the benefit of others. What he wants for himself. All in favor?"

There was a vote and Zeus sighed. "Alright, Demigod. What is your second wish?"

I stood there, silent. My mind revisited the memories with my family and I made my decision. "I want to be free. I don't want the gods to be able to call upon me for anything, no more commands to risk my life."

Zeus turned red in the face, but simmered, realizing he had sworn an oath. "Your wish is accepted, demigod. Now, I call this meeting adjourned. Let the celebrations begin!"

We were streaming out of the throne room, when Athena appeared in front of me, before beckoning me to follow her, walking away from the party, over to a balcony overhanging the edge of Olympus.

She turned around when I arrived. "Perseus."

"Yes, Lady Athena?"

She sat on a bench, "I think I was right about this, but I wish I wasn't. Your fatal flaw would destroy you, even if you weren't aware of it."

I opened my mouth to respond but she beat me to it. "I know it won't fix your issues with my daughter, but it will be useful later in life. I'm offering you my blessing."

My mouth dropped and she continued, "You'll have a brain rivalling my childrens, your Dyslexia won't be as apparent and you'll develop a photographic memory."

She paused, "Do you accept?"

"I- uh, yeah. I mean, I do, Lady Athena. Thank you."

She put a hand on my forehead and released. I didn't feel any different, but I knew whatever she had done was done. "Now, I do have tasks to accomplish. I wish you well, Perseus."

Without anything else, she faded from existence, like how smoke dissipates into open air. I turned around, walking down the mountain towards the elevator. I kept my head down, the events from earlier with Annabeth still nagging on me.

I stepped in the elevator, my mood was bad enough that the music didn't even affect me. I stepped out of the elevator, stepping out into the August heat. It was well into the afternoon, probably somewhere around 10pm, but I didn't bother hailing a taxi, just wanting to walk and hopefully clear my mind. I got home where mom pulled me into a hug and Paul patted me on the back.

Mom pulled out of the hug and pulled me to the living room. "What's wrong?"

"Annabeth. She basically hates me."

Mom looked bewildered, "What? Why? Weren't you almost dating? You were best friends."

I put my head in my hands, "I killed Kronos, but in the process I killed Luke. Turns out, she still loved him."

Paul rubbed my shoulders, "She hasn't been talking to you?"

I nodded, "She's been more than that, glaring at me everytime we made eye contact."

I felt tears well up again and mom pulled me into a hug.

A few hours later I was laying on my bed, just staring at my ceiling. I groaned, knowing I wasn't going to sleep anytime soon and rolled over, looking at my alarm clock. 1:15am. I rolled out of bed and got dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. I slipped my hand in my pocket, just making Riptide was there and took my keys from the dresser.

I headed into the kitchen, writing a note letting mom and Paul know that I was going out for a walk before I did just that. I took the stairs, letting my mind wander.

I had just made it to Central Park when a hiss sounded behind me. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? The Bane of Kronosssss, is it?"

I glared and swung around, pulling out Riptide. Before they had a chance to react, I had sliced through three of the four Dracaenae. I disarmed the last one before using a trick Clarisse had taught me, grabbing her wrist and pinning her to the ground by it.

I growled into her ear, "Listen. I'm not going to kill you, do you understand? Instead, I'm going to let you go. What you're going to do, is tell all your monster friends not to fuck with me. I won't kill you, if you don't try to kill me."

She quivered and I spoke again, "Capiche?"

The terrified Dracaenae nodded furiously and I let go. "Tell them I'll kill them if I see them hurting a demigod in my presence. Tell them to stay away from me entirely. As soon as they smell my scent, they better leave. For their own safety. Okay?"

She nodded before running the other way. When I turned to walk away, a familiar person stood up from the bench they were sitting on.

"Hey, Hermes."

"Hey, Percy. That was pretty impressive."

"Thanks. Is there something you need?"

"Humor me, will you?"

I shrugged, deciding I might as well. He'd never led me wrong before, so I didn't figure he'd start now. Hermes snapped his fingers and changed into running clothes, before getting on the ground and stretching. He motioned for me to follow, which I did reluctantly.

"You know, sometimes what you need is to hurt."

"What?"

"Physically, I mean. A hurt you can control, a steady burn."

"Like running?"

He grinned, "Just like running."

He hopped up, "Come on, we won't run too far."

I gestured to my feet, where I was wearing the same, old, beat up Reeboks I had been for the last year. "I don't have the shoes for that."

He nodded, then waved his hand. Suddenly, my feet felt way more comfortable. I looked down and I was wearing a fancy looking pair of Adidas. I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to be getting out of this without being rude to a god that's been nothing but nice to me. We took off at a jog and Hermes remained silent. I got into a rhythm, that was much faster than what I was used to, running with Hermes.

Around mile three, Hermes spoke. "Running is amazing. For more reasons than that I'm the god of speed. It's time to think. The controlled burn of your muscles, the focusing on your breathing patterns, the ache in your lungs, and your feet, pounding on the concrete."

He paused, "It can be incredibly therapeutic."

I nodded, understanding where he was coming from. I had gone on runs with the Stolls, it was something we did frequently. It was always nice when I did it, but I occasionally forgot to do it, and I just didn't want to wake up at 3:30 every morning like they did.

"Running is a battle of the mind more than a battle of the body. Running long distance is a mindset that few people have. It gives you an opportunity to strengthen yourself, better yourself. Gives you something else unique to be proud of. A lot of people turn their life around by running."

I was getting slightly annoyed by his riddles, "What are you trying to say?"

We stopped, and I just realized we had ran the entire six mile loop around Central Park.

He Looked off at the pond we were standing by, "There's a Chinese proverb I like. _A Journey of a Thousand Miles, begins with a single step_. You're in limbo, right now. Well, the limbo of the rest of your life. Between your life as a hero and your life as a mortal. What I'm trying to say, is that you have potential. You have the mindset of a runner. Run whenever you can, walk if you must, crawl if you have to, but you never give up."

He turned to me, "You're going into your sophomore year of high school, with a whole world of potential ahead of you. All you have to do is take that first step."

Hermes handed me a packet of paper, "Take care, Perce. Think about it."

He jogged off, into the darkness. I decided I'd open the packet when I got home, feeling plenty tired enough to go to bed now. Definitely not because Hermes annoyed me a bit with those riddles. Definitely not.

When I got home, I quietly snuck in, not wanting to wake up mom and Paul. I snuck to the bathroom. I turned the water on and cranked the heat up. I stripped down out of my sweaty clothes. I stepped into the shower and felt all the muscle aches practically wash away with the water running over me. I knew I had to be careful about how long I showered, because I had been known to stay in here for hours at a time and ruin the water bill. I stepped out and willed myself dry before wrapping a towel around my waist and heading to my room. I turned, immediately towards my dresser and was about to get dressed when I heard a cough behind me. I spun, and saw a goddess sitting in my desk chair, at least, I assumed she was a goddess.

She wore dark robes, with a weird ferret thing in her lap and a Golden Retriever by the base of my chair, where she was sitting.

"Can I help you? I'm trying to get dressed."

She shook her head. "No, you cannot help me. I'm here to help you."

"Can I get dressed first?"

She spun in her chair so she was facing the wall. "Hurry, demigod. I don't have a lot of time."

I did as she asked, just throwing on a pair of underwear and basketball shorts. "You can turn around."

I slipped a shirt on and she started speaking. "I'm Hecate, the goddess of Magic. Yes, the one who sided with the Titans. I'm here to thank you. For not just saving me, but saving my children."

"You're, uh, welcome?" I answered, not quite sure how to respond.

She sat up, "I'm here to offer you a gift."

I scrunched my eyebrows, "I mean, thank you and all, but what is it?"

She folded her hands across her lap. "I can remove your scent. Your demigod scent, that is."

My jaw dropped in shock and she continued, "You could freely use technology, never have to worry about monsters again. You would still be able to interact with the mythological world and go to Camp, without some of the downsides of being a demigod."

I closed my jaw, realizing that this was just too good to be true. "There has to be some catch. Nothing in life is this good."

She nodded, "Yes, there is. A tattoo."

I gave her a deadpan stare, "That's it? It can't hurt more than the Styx."

She shook her head. "It's quite the painful tattoo, it affects your spirit, not just your body."

I sat, quiet, before responding, "Can I choose the tattoo?"

She laughed, "Yes, Perseus. You can choose the tattoo."

I opened my desk and pulled out a notebook. I flipped to a certain page and held it out to her, "Uh, I've been wanting this, is that okay?"

She nodded, "A meandros armband? Of waves? It's a bit too small for the magic. You want one on each arm?"

I nodded, "That'd look pretty cool. I'm alright with that."

"This part is important. You have the blessing of the Styx. If you go through with this, you will lose it."

I thought for a second, before nodding. "I'm alright with that."

"Okay. I'd recommend you bite on something, like a belt. This is going to be painful."

I grabbed a belt from my closet and folded it before biting down. Two torches appeared in her hands. She held them to my biceps and I damn near bit through my belt when they made contact.

If the Styx was a nine out of ten in pain, then this was a seventeen. It didn't feel like a brand despite it being fire, it felt like the Chimera's poison was being injected by millions of tiny needles. Let me tell you, I'm not a fan.

I was staring at my alarm clock, feeling the seconds tick by, and all of them hurting. After twenty minutes, she pulled the torches away and I gasped out, letting my head fall forward. After a few seconds I looked down at my arms, where I saw two, perfectly symmetrical meandros armbands, about two inches thick, wrapping each of my biceps.

Hecate handed me a glass of what I assumed was Nectar and I chugged it fast enough that I barely even tasted it. The red around the tattoos faded and the black was just as a super deep black, I loved it.

I gave Hecate a smile, "Thank you, Hecate."

She shook her head. "No, thank you. You've saved my children from exile. Consider this a favor returned. Good luck, Percy."

She got up and started to glow but stopped. "I won't say this often, but I agree with Hermes. I know he wasn't very straight forward, but that packet will explain it pretty well. Almost everything he said was literal."

With that she glowed again and I averted my eyes. When I looked back, she was gone, along with her pets.

There was a knock at my door, "Percy?"

I looked at my alarm clock and it read 5:00am. Mom usually got up around this time on work days to work on her book. The door opened and she gave me a warm smile, "Good morning, honey. How long have you been awake?"

I rubbed my neck, "I, uh, never went to sleep."

Her eyes got sad, "Oh, baby. I'm sorry."

She pulled me into a hug and when she pulled back, she noticed my arms. Her eyes widened, "Perseus Jackson, what are these? Don't tell me they're permanent."

"Magic tattoos?"

"When did you get these?"

"About half an hour ago."

"They're already healed though!"

Hecate was here. They block my demigod scent, so I don't have to worry about monsters anymore. I just had to get the tattoos to hold the magic. I chose these."

Her eyes widened, "No more scent?"

I grinned and shook my head. "No more scent."

Her eyes watered and she pulled me into a hug, "Oh, my baby, my baby."

We sat there for a few minutes in a hug. My eyes started to tear up too, realizing how wide the benefits of what I had were. No more random monster attacks, the ability to use technology, not having to constantly be looking over my back for angry gods. The good life.

After a bit, mom went to her office and I went to the kitchen and made a bowl of cereal. When I sat at the table, I opened the packet and saw a registration form for the Goode Cross Country team. I turned the packet upside down and a key in a plastic bag fell out, along with a sticky note.

_128 E Broadway, PO 177_

I sighed, before deciding I'd just have to walk over there, since Paul was already gone to set up his office, since the school year was starting soon so he had taken the car.

I put on a pair of blue jeans and a band shirt, before grabbing my dirty Reeboks. I gave mom a hug, letting her know where I was going. I caught the subway, wondering what could possibly be there.

I got to the address and walked inside the US Postal Office. I took the key out of my pocket and opened the PO box and pulled out a card. I headed to the front desk where the lady took it and came back with a huge box.

I nodded my thanks and when I left. The box had to be close to a hundred and sixty or seventy pounds. I headed down to the subway, knowing I wasn't going to be able to run with a box this huge. I strained a bit, carrying it down the stairs. Upon arrival at home, I dropped the box on the floor, my arms feeling the strain. I shoved it to the living room, where I sat down and opened it up.

The first thing I pulled out was a piece of paper, with one letter on it.

_-H_

I set it to the side and picked up the first package. Upon unwrapping it, I came to an iPhone 11 Pro. My eyes widened, since I knew this thing had only come out like two months ago. I set it to the side and opened the next box was a GPS watch for running, the 5th gen Nike+ watch. My next package was a pair of Airpods. I opened the box and saw on the front of the charger was engraved JACKSON. I smiled then set it to the side and continued. The box I opened next were trail running shoes. Those would be nice if I ever got out of the city.

I picked up the last package and grunted slightly. This was the heavy one. I opened it and was greeted by a 150lbs adjustable weight vest. This would be useful, but I definitely wouldn't start out with full weight.

I spoke out loud, knowing Hermes was listening, "Thanks, Hermes."

I don't know how, but I knew he heard me. I put the stuff in my room and showered again, this time getting dressed for the day. Upon leaving my room, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it, mom."

"Thanks, sweetie."

I opened the door and saw Poseidon, standing there. "Hey, dad. What's up?"

"Hello, son. I realized I didn't have a gift for your sixteenth birthday. That is a big birthday for mortals, isn't it? It's the age you can drive."

I nodded, "Yeah, it is."

He smiled, "Well, are you free? I have something I want to show you, a late birthday present."

I nodded, "Yeah, sure." I called back into the apartment again, "I'm heading out for a bit, mom. I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay, honey. Stay safe."

I turned back around and saw a wistful look in Poseidon's eyes. He snapped out of it and gestured for me to follow him outside. We walked outside in silence for a bit before he spoke, "So, you're going back to high school?"

I nodded, not sure where this was going. "Yeah."

"Playing any sports?" He lightly bumped my shoulder, "Swimming?"

I laughed, "I wanted to, but I was thinking about it and it would be ridiculously unfair. I'm not the best at self-control, so I'd probably go all out without meaning to and set some crazy record. Then I'd be kidnapped and taken to a secret laboratory where they did tests on me or something."

Poseidon nodded, "I can understand, but I don't think they'd take it that far, or at least, we wouldn't let them. So, what are you playing then?"

I shrugged, "I was talking with Hermes last night and he recommended that I run Cross Country, saying I had potential. Hecate said the same thing."

Poseidon froze mid step before continuing, "You saw Hecate last night?"

I shrugged, "Well, more like this morning. She gave me a gift in return for pardoning her and her kids yesterday."

He gave a very careful nod, "And what was that gift?"

I pulled my arms out of my hoodie, "She gave me these tattoos. They block my demigod scent using some super high tier magic."

Poseidon took a double take at my tattoos before he stopped completely, before taking one of my arms and inspecting the tattoo very closely. "Uh, what are you doing?"

He didn't respond for a few moments, before letting go of my arm, "Oh, that had me worried. These are very high strength magic. I recognize the spell now. I thought they were an old Atlantean binding curse that would give the creator the ability to control your soul. It's very similar, but different. They give the creator the ability to choose what happens to part of you, once. Once they choose what it is, it will stay like that until undone by the creator. What she did was turn your scent into a power source. You could never die of fatigue now, since it's like a secondary resource, similar to how your body stores fat."

I nodded and we continued walking, "Huh. neat."

We continued in silence before we turned left into a parking garage. We walked up a few flights of stairs before coming to a halt on the second floor of the parking garage. In the space in front of us was possibly the coolest motorcycle I had ever seen.

Poseidon put his hand on the seat, "This beauty is a Harley Davidson V-Rod, Night Rod. She has a 1,247cc engine, or 1115 horsepower, with 77.4 pound-feet of torque, with a 0-60 time of 3.6 seconds and 0-100 in 8.1 seconds."

"And it's mine?"

"And it's yours. Now, this wasn't just from me. Hephaestus helped. He's offered to give you a form of his blessing. You'll know everything about your motorcycle, and no type of vehicle would confuse you."

"That'd be awesome!"

A few seconds later, I was enveloped in a dull orange glow. When it faded, I looked at the motorcycle and just seemed to understand everything about it. How to ride it, the throttle response, the inner workings of the entire thing. Now I understand why the Hephaestus kids are all gearheads.

Thunder rumbled and Poseidon rolled his eyes, "Zeus is being a big old baby. He's mad that I've spent like ten minutes with you. I'm sorry, Perseus, but I have to go."

He gave me a hug, "Happy birthday, Percy."

I gave him a hug back, and when we pulled back he gave me a wink, tossed me an ID, before disappearing in a swirl of water.

I looked at the bike, then the key in my hand. I mean, a quick ride wouldn't hurt, right? I swung my leg over the black, leather saddle and dropped the key into the ignition. The motorcycle rumbled to life.

This was going to be fun. I walked the bike backwards and revved up, the noise echoing through the building. I pulled out onto the street and let it out. I flew over the bridge, weaving through traffic in a way that I could take a wild guess and assume was extremely illegal. I dropped a gear and twisted the accelerator, building revs before running back up, launching myself at close to 90mph, over double the speed limit. The wind was in my hair and I had a smile on my face the entire time. It was fun, an escape from any type of reality. It was, well, freeing.

I got back to the parking garage and reluctantly left it, already missing the rumble. I walked home and when I opened the door, I saw mom and Paul in their chairs, reading together.

"Hey, I'm home."

Mom looked up from her book, "I can see that. What were you doing? Something with camp?"

I shook my head, "No, actually. I was actually with dad."

"Poseidon was here? What did he want?"

"I dropped down on the couch, sprawling out, "He was giving me my birthday present, it's pretty sweet."

Paul glanced up from his book, "What did he get you?"

"Well, it's a joint gift between him and Hephaestus. They got me a motorcycle."

Mom choked on the coffee she was drinking, "A motorcycle? Do you know how dangerous those are?"

"I'm a demigod, mom."

"You could get hit by a car!"

"Can't hurt more than being physically thrown into a building by a Drakon."

She crossed her arms, "Did he at least get you a helmet?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I don't know if he thought about it. It'd take quite a bit to hit me. I'm a demigod, mom. I have crazy reaction speeds and a practically prophetic gut that tells me when something's wrong."

"You need a helmet."

I groaned, "Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"What if I promise to not get hit?"

"It's not up for debate, Percy. You're getting a helmet."

"I groaned, "Fine."

Suddenly, there was a loud 'pop' from the air above my lap. A box dropped from nowhere, probably from Hermes' mail. I opened the box on the spot and pulled out a black helmet.

Mom gave a sing nod, seemingly satisfied. "Good. You'll wear that every time you get on the bike."

I nodded dejectedly. "Okay, I'll wear it."

Paul closed his book and looked over at me, "So, school starts Tomorrow. You have all your school stuff in your room already, we already have you registered for school. Are you going to be playing any sports? Need anything for them?"

I nodded, "I'm thinking I'm gonna try Cross Country. I've had two gods tell me I should, but I don't need any gear. Hermes gave me a pair of shoes last night that are pretty great."

Paul's eyes widened, "Two gods? When was this?"

I shrugged, "Last night I went for a run and met Hermes and this morning, probably around three or four a.m. I met Hecate."

He nodded slowly, "They were in our apartment?"

"Only Hecate."

He nodded a bit more assuredly. "Okay."

"Mom looked over at us, "I'm really in the mood for pizza."

Paul and I looked at each other and I responded, "Mom, you don't have to ask twice."

Paul nodded in agreement, "Pizza's always good."

Mom nodded and pulled out her phone. "Percy? The pepperoni and cheese piezilla, breadsticks, and a 2-liter? The usual?"

I grinned and nodded, "Yes, please."

Mom turned on the TV and we pulled up a movie. The greasy pizza was amazing, and we had just finished the movie when I heard a knock at the door.

Paul got up, "I'll get it."

A few moments later, Paul came back in, with three, familiar deities following.

I raised an eyebrow, "What's up, guys?"

Apollo held his hand out for a fist bump, "Hey, cuz. We're on our way to Hong Kong for the night, you want to come with us?"

"I mean, I'm down. Let me check with mom first."

I looked over at mom, who was looking at the three with a guarded expression. I nodded, realizing neither mom or Paul knew who these three were.

I stood and Aphrodite gave me a hug, "Mom, Paul, these are Apollo, Tyche, and Aphrodite. Three of the most annoying deities on Olympus."

Tyche pushed my shoulder, "you know you love us."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever. Can I, mom?"

She nodded, the guarded look still there. "Don't hurt yourself."

Apollo slung an arm over my shoulder, "Oh, we wouldn't let him get hurt."

I pushed his arm off and bent over, giving mom a hug. "I'll do my best. Love you."

"Love you too, sweetie."

The three gods said their goodbyes and we left the apartment. When we got outside, we flashed to Hong Kong and Aphrodite looked at me again and stepped back, "That's what you're wearing?"

I looked down. I was wearing beat up, torn Reeboks, blue jeans that I knew didn't fit that well, and a nondescript, blue t-shirt. I shrugged, "What's wrong with this?"

She shook her head, "No, no, no. We're going shopping."

I shook my head, "I know for a fact that I can't afford what you want me to wear."

She grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the alley we were in, "I'll pay for it. Money doesn't matter much to me, and this is unacceptable."

I got dragged down the street, before laughing and just walking with them.

She pulled me towards the first shop, and I knew I wouldn't be able to afford it. The next few hours were a whirlwind. I've learned a few things, though.

1\. My butt looks 'totally, like, scrumptious' in Calvin Klein jeans

2\. I'm 'totes, super hot' and I should dress like it

3\. Reeboks are out of fashion, it's about Nike blazers

4\. I can rock a fur collar denim jacket

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty informative trip. I just have way too many clothes now that they flashed back home. Like, I'm going to have to clear out part of the room under my bed to fit this number of shoes. I got home after six hours, looking at 2:00AM on my clock. I was ready for bed.

I finished my basic hygiene routine and fell into bed, half conscious. That consciousness was quickly lost.

It's weird to think about, but I was honestly kinda excited for my second day at school.

_**Hello, everyone. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, there's more to come. If there's something particular you want, feel free to contact me and I'll try to add it in.**_

_**For legal reasons, I own nothing except the plot. All rights to Rick Riordan and Hyperion Publishing.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Guest: Very good start look forward to more keep up the work**_

**Thank you!**

_**Just a fan of fics: It's definitely a good start and definitely a lot of potential, really cool how Percy wants nothing to do with the gods after the titan war most of these fics usually take place after the giant war so nice to see some variety for once. The only question I really have is if there are going to be any pairings in this since Percabeth most likely won't happen after Anabeth's reaction to Luke's death.**_

**There will be a pairing! No, it won't be a Percabeth story. However, there will be a face to face confrontation later on. Thank you for your review!**

**Now, on to the chapter!**

BEEP! BEEP! BEE-"

I turned off my alarm, hopping from bed. I jumped in the shower, letting it wake me up. I stood in front of my closet for a second, wondering what to wear. With my new and improved Athena made brain, I was actually excited for school. I was scratching my neck, confused. There was a ruffling from the clothes in my closet. Suddenly, clothes flew out of my closet and landed on my bed, along with a pair of shoes.

I walked over to my bed and smiled, making a guess that this would probably be Aphrodite's doing. A brown leather jacket, a white v-neck, the Calvin klein jeans, and white Nike Blazers with a black check. I quickly got dressed, walking into the kitchen with a skip in my step.

"Good morning, mom."

I pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the head, "How're you doing today?"

She gave me a confused smile, "Good morning to you too, Percy. What's got you so excited?"

I shrugged, "School, surprisingly. Now that I don't have to deal with Dyslexia, I'm actually looking forward to it."

"Well, I never thought I'd see the day. Well, your protein shake is on the table, if you want to take it to school to get set up, feel free. Your lunch is in the fridge. I'm heading out to get the groceries. Love you."

"Love you too, mom. I'll see you after tryouts."

She left the apartment and I poured my shake into a bottle, before grabbing my duffel bag that I had packed for the Cross Country team tryouts. I locked the door and hustled to the parking garage and rumbling my way to school.

I pulled into the parking lot, quickly locking my bike and walked into school, grabbing my schedule from the front desk and dropping my duffel in my locker.

"Percy!"

I spun around, confused, before I felt a body slam into my chest, nearly knocking the wind out of me. I looked down and saw a frizz of red hair in my chest.

I hugged her back, "Hey, Rachel. What's up?"

She pulled back, "Just excited to see you. Is that a duffel? You're playing a sport?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm doing Cross Country. Side question, why are people staring at me?"

Rachel just rolled her eyes, "You hit puberty over the summer. The curse of Achilles probably helped."

"What?"

"You're hot now. I mean, you were cute before, but you're like, more now. You grew like four inches, and you definitely put on a bit of muscle. You're what, 6'3? 6'4?"

I rubbed my neck, a blush on my face. "6'4. I'm average looking, yeah, but hot? No way. I'm the dork. Not the hot kid."

I closed my locker and she pulled my schedule from my hand, "You're too modest. You could pass as a model. Now, let me see this. We have first, second, and third period together. First is Algebra 2. Let's go!"

I blushed harder, deciding to remain silent and just follow her.

Rachel handed me my schedule back and I decided to actually look at it for once.

1st Hour…. Algebra 2

2nd Hour….Geography

3rd Hour…..English year 2

4th Hour…..Weight lifting

Lunch

5th Hour…..Marine Biology

6th Hour…..Greek language

7th Hour…..Gym

We reached class and I dropped into a desk next to Rachel, who promptly propped her feet up on mine, pulling out her phone.

"Percy?"

"What's up?"

"Do you have social media?"

"No, why?"

"Oh, I'll make you an Instagram. Download Snapchat, just make an account."

I shrugged, downloading it, "Why do I need them?"

"Popularity? I don't really know, but it's fun. Try it."

"Good enough for me."

I had just made my account when the bell rang. The teacher came into the classroom and closed the door behind her.

"Good morning, class. I'm your Algebra 2 teacher, Mrs. DeStaffino, but you can just call me Mrs. D. I'm looking forward to a good school year with you! We'll start with introductions, please."

She walked over to the front left desk, "Just stand up, state your name, age, and something about yourself!"

The guy whose desk she was at stood up, "I'm Jeremy Renolds, I'm 15, and I like to skate."

The girl next to him stood, "I'm Jenna Brennan, I'm 15, and I do cheer!"

"Mike King, 15, I game."

"Chad Young, 15, Lacrosse."

"Brad Hernandez, 15, Lacrosse."

"Olivia Hughes, 16, I do cheer."

"Abigail Gonzalez, 15, I play football."

The list went on until Rachel. "I'm Rachel Dare, I'm 15, and I'm an Artist."

I stood up, "Percy Jackson, I'm 16, and I like to run."

The last few people went through and Mrs. D spoke again, "Great! Well, I don't have anything planned today, so just get to know each other!"

Rachel propped her feet back up, pulling out her phone again, "I made your account. Give me your phone, I'll log you in and log out in my phone."

I shrugged, tossing her my phone, "Cool, thanks."

The class went by quickly, along with the next few classes. I had just been following Rachel around, basically. We parted ways after third period, when I headed to weight lifting.

Our teacher walked in, "Hey, guys. I'm Coach Jamal. Just call me Coach J. First day, we got work to do. We're gon' get your height and weight then max out our workout today. I'm gonna have one person come forward at a time and I'll find your max bench and tomorrow I'll find your max squat and we'll do that until next week, where I'll get you into workout levels, so you'll have a designated plan for each day."

I got in line and waited, until it was my turn. "Name?"

"Percy Jackson."

"Do you know your max?"

I shook my head. "Height?"

"6'3."

"Weight?"

"201 pounds."

He looked me up and down, "I'm gonna start you at 180 pounds. You ready?"

I stretched my chest out and dropped to the bench. I pulled the bar and pushed out, being way easier than I was expecting. Coach got back up, "How'd that feel?"

"Easy. I can do more."

"How much more, do you think?"

"Add another 45 per side."

His eyes widened, "If you think you can, okay."

He stood over me again, spotting me, "270 pounds, hit it."

I felt some serious strain, but I knew I could do more. I pushed it back to the bar. "I can do a bit more. 15 more on each side, I think."

"If you say so. 300 pounds, hit it."

I felt some real strain and I knew I wasn't going any higher than this. With a grunt, I managed to thrust it the rest of the way up. I sat up and coach spoke again, "You want to try for the weight lifting team?"

I shook my head, "Nah, I'm a runner."

"Track isn't until next semester, weight lifting is this semester."

"I'm trying for Cross Country. Tryouts are today. Sorry."

He just sighed, "Okay. Well, you're done, you can go for lunch early."

"Thanks, coach. I'll see you tomorrow."

I grabbed my backpack, walked to my locker, grabbing my lunch and sitting at the table I used to sit at with Rachel last year at lunch. The bell rang and people flooded in. My phone buzzed. I looked down and checked what it was. It was a text from Rachel.

_[R] Hey, sorry. I won't be there for lunch, I have stuff for art I need to do_

_[P] Yeah, no problem_

_[R] You want to come here?_

_[P] Sure, omw_

I got up from the table and walked towards the art room. I pushed open the door and Rachel was sitting there with a girl across from her. When I got in, I got a better look at the girl. She was tan, with really curly honey brown hair, and bright blue eyes. She was pretty short, only 5'4 or 5'5.

Rachel introduced us, "Percy this is Ava, Ava this is Percy."

We shook hands, "It's nice to meet you, Percy."

"You too."

We sat in silence while Rachel did something involving clay, before Ava spoke again. "So, are you playing any sports?"

"Yeah, actually. Cross Country and Track. What about you?"

Her eyes brightened, "Yes! I'm a sophomore, so this is going to be my second year."

"Oh, I'm a sophomore too. I just didn't want to run on a team last year."

"Run with a team? Did you run alone?"

I nodded, "Yeah. I trained alone and all that, I just didn't go to races."

"Cool. Well, we have tryouts after school today, I can't wait. Last year it was raining, it sucked."

I laughed, "I like running in the rain, if it's not too cold."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Why?"

"Running in the rain sucks! My shoes get soaked, I almost always fall over, half the time I can't even see where I'm going."

"Touche. I'll give you that."

I opened my lunch and her eyes widened again, "Jeez, you eat a lot."

I shrugged, "I'm a big guy. Burn a lot of calories, eat a lot of calories."

We kept talking for a while, before the bell rang for the end of lunch. "So, what class do you have fifth period?"

"Marine biology. You?"

I smiled, "Same. Want to walk over together?"

Rachel came back in from the room off to the side she was in. "Hey, guys. I'm heading to my next class. Bye."

Ava slung her backpack onto her back, "Sure. Let's go."

We walked out of the room, "So, tell me a bit about yourself."

She gave a shy smile, "Well, I was born in New York, this is my third year of running, I live with my mom in Harlem, and my dad left when I was six. Now, tell me a bit about yourself."

"Well, I've been running since I was twelve, so four years, I live by the Queensboro bridge and I met my dad when I was twelve."

We shook hands again, "It's a pleasure to meet you, miss."

She laughed, "You as well, good sir. So, why are you taking Marine Biology? You like the ocean?"

I nodded, "I love it. The ocean is mostly unexplored, which is honestly just insane."

She nodded, "Right? I just want to explore, you know?"

We sat down, just in time for the bell to ring. A teacher walked in, "Good afternoon, class. I'm Mr. Bruun, and we'll be doing a knowledge check today. Please be honest, because I'll be tailoring our class to this. Don't try to make it easy by failing, since if we have to go over too much, we'll miss out on some of our field trips."

He passed out a packet to everyone, "You'll be turning it in at the end of class. You can listen to music or talk with friends, just don't be too loud."

I pulled a pencil out of my bag and looked at the first question.

_What order do dolphins belong to?_

This'll be easy, Cetacea. I flipped through the book, finding that there were 150 questions. I shrugged, knowing I could breeze through most of this. I continued writing and had just finished and flipped it back over.

I raised my hand, "Mr. Bruun? What should I do when I'm done?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Did you actually fill it out?"

"Yes."

"Bring it to my desk, you're free to leave if you want."

I said goodbye to Ava, who quickly took my phone and added her contact. "Bye, I'll see you at tryouts."

"See you then."

I slung my bag over my shoulder and handed off my packet, leaving the classroom and waiting on one of the benches, listening to music and scrolling on my phone. The bell rang and I walked to Greek language.

I was the first person in the classroom and she smiled, "Good afternoon. What's your name?"

"Percy Jackson, ma'am."

"Ah, Mr. Blofis' stepson?"

"Yes ma'am."

She stood up and started setting up the whiteboard, "I'm under the impression that you already knew a bit of Greek?"

I nodded, "I'm fluent, actually."

She raised an eyebrow, _"You are?"_

"_Yes, I am. I have been learning since I was twelve."_

"_I'm impressed. Why did you choose Greek?"_

"_My father is Greek. I met him when I was twelve and he started teaching me. I liked it so I took it upon myself to learn."_

She shook her head, "Incredible. Well, welcome to the class. Why are you here? Why not learn another language?"

"I know conversational Greek, I want to perfect the grammar."

She nodded, "Smart. Well, I'm sorry to inform you this, but since you're conversationally fluent in Greek, You can't take this class. One of the school rules is that it has to be a new language, not one you're already familiar with."

I groaned, "Seriously?"

She nodded again, "Seriously. Sorry, it's not my rule. However, you're free to stop by whenever you want to brush up on something or other."

"Thanks, I guess."

"Well, you can stay here for today, but I'll set you an appointment with guidance to find your next language."

The class was here now and she closed the door. "Good afternoon, class. I'm your Greek language and history teacher, Mrs. Rhodes. Today, we'll be going over the syllabus. After today, I expect you to keep up with it yourself. If you'll be absent, talk to me and I'll try to accomodate you."

I followed along, and before I knew it, the hour was up and the bell rang. "Have a good afternoon, class. You're dismissed."

I hopped up, walking to the Gym. When I got there, The coach just told us to go outside and do whatever, he didn't really care today and that he was busy. I shrugged, changing into running gear and stretching and decided to do warmups for the tryouts after school.

School finished and I changed out of the gym uniform to my running shorts and a tank top. I headed back to the track where people were starting to congregate.

A guy noticed me and walked over, "Hey, you here for cross country tryouts?"

I nodded, "Yeah, you?"

He nodded, "Yeah. What grade are you in?"

"I'm a sophomore. What about you?"

"I'm a senior this year. What do you plan on running?"

I shrugged, "I mean, I'm hoping to run around a 15:30, I'm not sure though, since I ran during gym last period."

He raised an eyebrow, "That's pretty damn fast. I haven't managed to run a sub 18 before."

"I've done it before, I just want to do it again."

He shrugged, "Okay, good luck man."

I dropped my bag and just waited. A few minutes later, A bag dropped next to mine. I looked up from my phone and saw Ava there.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Just nervous for tryouts, what about you?"

"Not much, just waiting it out."

"Cool. You want to stretch out?"

I did it once already, but that was something like an hour and a half ago, so I should probably do it again. "Sure. Let's go."

We stretched and talked for a few minutes until a man with a clipboard walked up. "Hey guys. For those of you who don't know me, I'm coach Scott. I'm the head coach and the coach for the varsity boys and girls teams."

A woman next to him stepped forward, "I'm coach Vera, the JV coach."

Coach Scott continued, "Now, we have so few people actually trying out this year that everyone is on the team just for showing up. We'll be having two heats for the time trials, for Varsity or JV. There are 7 places for boys and girls Varsity. You should've stretched out already, so we'll get right to the races. You'll be following the 4 wheeler, so the course will be easy. A lot of the run will be on concrete, so don't wear your spikes. The timings won't be exact, but we'll be judging by place."

The crowd broke apart, the girls walking over towards the back of the 4 wheeler. I wished Ava good luck and she jogged off, joining the girls.

"Hey! New kid!"

I turned around to see who called me and saw the same guy from earlier waving me over. "What's your name?"

"Percy. You?"

"Anthony, call me Ant. Percy, these are some of last year's varsity runners, Mitch, Isaac, and Ben. Guys, this is Percy."

Ben gave me an upwards nod, "Hey. You're planning on running a 15:30?"

"Yeah. What about you?"

"No one on the team this year can run that fast. I'm shooting for a 16:10."

"That's a pretty fast time, still."

We kept talking until the girls came around for the first mile lap. After basically yelling motivation at them to run faster, we went back to talking.

Issac put his hands out in a stop motion, "Wait, so let me get this straight. You've never ran for a team, but you've been training since you were 12 to be a runner?"

"Yeah, that's about right."

"And you've already proven to yourself that you can run a 15:30 using a stopwatch?"

"Yeah."

He shook his head, "You're crazy, you know that?"

I nodded, a grin on my face, "Believe me, I'm aware."

"Boys, get on the line!"

We jogged over to the line, where we were lined up as told. "If you're going faster than the 4 wheeler, just hit the back and call out to go faster, and coach Vera will pick up the pace. On your mark."

I got ready, crouching slightly, hovering my hand over my watch to start the pace tracker.

"Get ready."

I took a deep breath.

"Go!"

I took off, the gap in the two hundred yards already becoming obvious. I let my mind wander back to my late night runs around camp halfblood, pacing my breathing with my steps. In. In. Out. Out. There was a definite cadence with my breathing. I slapped the back of the 4 wheeler and coach Vera jumped a bit, before picking up the speed. I took the first lap, and checked my watch. I was on target, so it wasn't a problem.

I lifted my shirt, wiping my face of the sweat before speeding up next to the cart, "Coach, same loop?"

She nodded, "Yeah, two more times."

I nodded, falling back again. I let my mind blank, my entire mind focusing on placing one foot in front of the other. I knew I wasn't running as hard as I possibly could, but I wasn't trying to. I ran the second mile and checked my watch. I was doing good, 5 minute splits. No problem.

Mile three came around and I didn't drop pace, keeping onto the same pace as before. I came flying off the tail of the mile down the track, where I ran the .1 mile after the final third.

I ran across the line, where coach clicked a stopwatch. "15:32.04! That's the fastest time this year, congratulations. If you can keep this up, we might have a chance at states! You've definitely ran a Varsity pace."

I nodded , holding my hands on top of my head to help open my lungs a bit, "Thanks, coach."

"Have you been running before this? Why didn't you run last year?"

I nodded, getting a water bottle, "Yeah, I've been running since I was twelve. I've had a lot on my plate last year but I dropped basketball and decided to finally pursue running."

He clapped me on the back, the others coming in by now. "Well, it's good to have you on the team."

Coach Scott walked back over to the finish line and I followed, but was pushed slightly. I looked to the side and saw Ava there. "That was crazy! Why didn't you tell me you could run like that?"

I shrugged, blood flowing up to my face. "I mean, it's not that crazy. There are people running in like the 13s…"

She just rolled her eyes, "Gonna be all humble after that? I shouldn't be surprised by that."

"What does that mean?"

She shook her head, "Nothing. Lets go over, coach is giving out positions and he's gonna announce this year's team captain."

We joined the rest of the team, where everyone was sitting and stretching on the grass, facing the coach. "Great job, everyone! We didn't have a single runner on the boys team run over a 7:30 pace or a runner on the girls team to run over an 8:30 pace. This is great! We'll have a better JV team than last year. What we need to do now, is announce our Varsity members and their team numbers. We'll start with the girl's team. Coach Vera, if you will?"

She stepped forward, holding up Varsity jackets. "You all did amazing! Now, we have seven varsity spots. In seventh with a time of 21:47 we have Margret Jones. In sixth, with a time of 21:16, we have Harper Brown. In fifth, we have 19:58, Mia Wilson. In fourth place, with a time of 19:44, we have Ava Hill. In third place, 19:31, we have Madison Wood. In second, with 19:30, we have Layla Baker. First, with 19:15, is Victoria Campbell. Congrats to all of you!"

We all clapped, giving them our congratulations. She flipped her clipboard, "Now, onto the boys team. Also, a 7 person team, we have the best of the boys. In seventh, with a time of 19:28, is Elijah Cox. Sixth, with 19:19, is Joshua Howard. Fifth, with 19:02 is Iasac Turner. In fourth, with 18:48 is Ben Lewis. In third, with a 17:33 is Mitch Rodriguez. In second, with a time of 16:10 is Anthony Roberts. In first place, with a time of 15:32, is Percy Jackson."

Coach Scott spoke up again, "Well, now, it's time to announce our team captain. This is his fourth season with us here at Goode XC, and he's always been a key member in team morale, Anthony Roberts!"

The team clapped, and Ant had a full blown smile on his face. Coach Scott continued, "Now, JV teams, please follow Coach Vera to the portable to pick up your uniforms. Varsity, come with me. We're getting your uniforms."

We followed the coach back to his classroom and I bumped Ava. "Does the XC team not have a locker room?"

She shook her head, "No, the school doesn't fund us well enough for them."

"Doesn't the football team get their locker room renovated every four years or something like that?"

She nodded, "It's pretty screwed up."

"Why doesn't the XC team get more funding?"

"People just don't value running as much as football. Cross country has been on the verge of being shut down for the last two or three years. The only reason track and field is still here is since it's what the football players do in the off season."

"That's stupid."

"Believe me, I agree."

We sat down at some of the desks in coach Scott's classroom and waited for him to get the uniforms. He pulled out two cardboard boxes. "Raise your hand if you're a womens' small."

He tossed out the appropriate uniforms, everyone raising their hands at the appropriate size. He tossed me a large and I looked it over. The top was all white, with a big maroon 'G' in the center of the chest for Goode. The bottoms were xc running shorts, which were just solid black with white piping.

Coach tossed the empty boxes towards the recycling bin, "I know there aren't many shoes that match our school colors, but if you could find shoes that don't clash that badly, like black, white, or gray it would be much appreciated. Please try to avoid blue, green, yellow, or colors that just wouldn't match. If you can't find shoes that match the uniform and also fit you as a runner, get the shoes that fit you as a runner."

We gave nods of understanding, "Great. I'll get your phone numbers from your school file and I'll make a Varsity group chat. You're released, have a good rest of your day."

We walked to the gym locker rooms and promptly showered and left again. As it turns out, Ava and I had left at the same time.

We said our goodbyes and left, Ava and I walked to a section of the parking lot. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She stopped me, "Wait a sec, give me your phone."

I raised an eyebrow but did it anyways. She started typing and doing stuff. When she handed it back, I slipped it in my pocket. "What did you do on my phone?"

She blushed slightly, "You added me on Snapchat, instagram, and I gave you my phone number."

I nodded, "Well, thanks. I guess."

She hit my shoulder slightly, You're gonna be my study buddy for marine biology."

"I am? This is news to me"

She nodded, seemingly very assured of it. "Yes. I just decided."

"Well, I guess I am then."

I tied my duffel bag down to the back of my motorcycle. "You ride a motorcycle?"

I nodded, "Yeah. My dad got it for me, like, two days ago."

"Sweet! Well, I have to get home, so I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you then!"

I swung my leg over my motorcycle and revved. I waved goodbye to Ava, before tearing out of the parking lot at what must've been way over the parking lot speed limit.

"Mom! I'm home!"

"Hey, sweetie. Will you come to the living room?"

"Yeah, sure. What's up?"

"Sit down first, please."

I hesitantly sat down, seeing the pensive looks on mom and Paul's faces. "What's up? Is everything alright?"

Mom nodded, "Yeah, nothing's wrong. This is just really important for me to share."

She took a deep breath and Paul put a hand over her stomach. "I'm pregnant."

I sat in a shocked silence, before leaping out of my seat and pulling mom and Paul into a huge hug, "I'm gonna be a big brother!"

Mom laughed, "Yes, you are."

I fell back on the couch, sprawling out, my brain reeling from what I had learned. I was going to have a little sibling. I was going to be a big brother.

Paul took one of mom's hands in his own, "We have a reservation at a nice restaurant tonight. I hope you'll be able to join us?"

I nodded, "Yeah! I don't have any homework, so I don't have any reason not to."

Mom smiled, "Wonderful! We leave at 5, so we have an hour to get ready. Please dress nicely."

"Will do, mom."

"Oh, by the way, how did tryouts go?"

"I'm on Varsity."

"Congrats, sweetie! I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, mom."

I walked back to go get showered, before getting dressed in a pair of jeans, a button down shirt, and my brown leather jacket. I plopped back down on the couch and looked across at Paul, who was reading a book. "Hey, Paul? Where are we going tonight?"

"There's this stea-"

DING DONG.

Paul and I looked at each other, confused. I stood up, "I'll grab the door."

I did as I said and when I opened the door, I came face to face with Argus, who was wearing a suit, he handed me a note and stepped back from the door, waving at me to go back inside. I did as he gestured and walked into the living room.

I opened the note and read aloud, "Good evening, Jackson-Blofis family. Consider this a thank you from me and a congratulations to the addition to your family. Signed, Hera."

As soon as I finished reading, Paul and I glowed gold slightly and our clothes were magically replaced with black suits and bowties. We heard a muffled yelp from the mom and Paul's bedroom, where mom came out with a confused look on her face and a modest, knee length dress. "What just happened?"

I handed her the note and she just nodded, "Okay, our evening has been blessed by the goddess. Not the weirdest thing that's happened to me. How do we say thank you?"

"I mean, usually we just give a small sacrifice. I'm not sure about the queen of the gods, though."

"I mean, Argus is waiting for us, so we should probably go, huh?"

"Yes, I guess so."

We all got up and filed out the door, where we were led by Argus to a blacked out Phantom stretch 300 limousine. He opened the rear door, and we entered an equally luxurious interior. We talked and laughed, going wherever we were being taken.

We came to a stop and were let out in front of a restaurant. Mom and Paul's eyes bulged. I furrowed my eyebrows, "What's so special about this place? Is it super expensive?"

Mom nodded, "The most expensive place in New York City. _Per Se_, over $300 per person."

My eyes bulged, just like theirs did. "Holy shit."

Mom hit me with her purse.

"Sorry mom."

**2 weeks later**

"Percy!"

I groaned, "What Ava?"

She kicked my leg, "We're here."

I groaned, sitting up. We had taken the bus to our first cross country meet, which was at one of our neighboring schools. I pulled myself out of the bus seat I had laid across.

"Come on, we're setting up the tent. Mitch's mom brought bagels and cream cheese."

That got me out of the bench. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and grabbed one of the tarps, slinging it over my shoulder.

"So, what's this course like?"

She fell into step next to me. "It's mostly flat, all concrete, basically. Not much grass, but we're in New York City, you get what you get."

"You like it?"

She nodded, "For a concrete run, yeah. A lot of people PR on this course."

I gave a slow nod, "Nice. Thanks."

"No problem. Hurry up, slowpoke I want a bagel."

"You run in like an hour. Don't eat too much."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever."

I rolled out the tarp as a couple other kids set up the tent on top of it. It was like clockwork, and soon we were sitting on the tarp, eating bagels with cream cheese.

"You know the morning schedule?"

Ava shook her head, "Nah. Hey, Ant!"

He rolled over, chewing on a bagel. "Wassup?"

"Do you know the schedule?"

He nodded, "Yeah. Uh, the girls Varsity runs at 7:30, the girls JV runs at 8:00, the Varsity guys run at 8:30 and the guys JV runs at 9:00. We're going for a warm up jog in, like, ten minutes. We're gonna do an easy lap, so like a super slow mile jog."

I looked around at the lazy attitude of the other tents, "Are all meets this chill?"

He shook his head, "Nah. Don't worry, it won't stay like this. Around 7:00 this shit will turn into a military camp, practically. The entire mood will be way more serious."

He paused, "Except for the JV boys. They're always gonna do some stupid shit. You just kinda ignore them."

Ava just nodded in agreement. "It can get kinda annoying."

I leaned back on my backpack, "So, Ant, you're a senior, right?"

"Yeah."

"What do you want to do after high school?"

He smiled, "I have my contract signed, I'm going to the Air Force academy. I'm gonna be an A-10 pilot."

I nodded, "Sweet, bro."

"I know you're only a sophomore, but what about you?"

"I want to be a Marine Biologist. I mean, if running professionally doesn't work out."

Ava kicked her feet up onto my lap, "If you can whittle down your times, you could definitely at least get into a D-1 college."

I shrugged, "That's the dream. What about you, Ava?"

"Animal Science. I want to be a Veterinarian physician."

"You like animals?"

"Oh yeah. Dogs, cats, hamsters, horses, you name it, I like it."

She hesitated, "Except snakes. I fucking hate snakes."

We laughed, "Fair enough. Snakes are kinda creepy."

Ant got up and held his hands out, pulling us up. "Change your shoes real quick, we're gonna do the warm up."

We did as asked and we did a light jog. Since it was a Saturday, there weren't a lot of people at the school, other than a few clubs. Up a small hill, first right along the back of the Tennis courts, take the left and run down the football field, and take a left and run along the sidewalk between the school and the parking lot. Run around the front of the school and run along the bus loop, before running around the pool and back towards the start line.

Simple, just follow the lines. I wasn't gonna bother memorizing such a short course. The run was really slow, by cross country standard. The mile took ten minutes and we soon backed off the course, the girl's varsity team lining up.

I gave Ava a high five, "Good luck. Get going, you don't want to be DQed."

She gave me a couple finger guns before pulling off her sweats, pinning her bib, and lacing the timing chip that was given to her into her shoe. She jogged off, her hair in a ponytail swinging behind her.

As promised by Ant, the tents were filled with a slightly nervous silence, the meet about to kick off. A heard the starting gun fire and the girls took off. Ant and I watched the race, cheering on the girls team. Ava came across the finish line, at 19:28.57.

I met up with her over at the water table, where she was basically pouring water over herself and chugging it by the cup. "Good job, Ava! I saw your race, you finished in 10th. You ran a 19:28 and some change."

She nodded, still gasping for breath. "Sweet. That's a PR."

We clapped her on the back and left her be, while she recuperated from her run.

"So, Percy, you ready for the race?"

I nodded, "You bet."

"Gonna win?"

"I'm either gonna win or I'm gonna die and there's no inbetween."

He laughed, "You push yourself way too hard, even at practice."

I shrugged, "I don't half ass anything, I guess. I either win now or I'll train hard enough to win later."

Ant shook his head, "I'm just happy you're on our team."

We watched the JV girls go out and finish and we lined up for the start of the race. I slipped on my running shoes and pinned my running number on my chest.

Ant jumped up, bouncing on his heels, flexing his calves. "Come on, guys. We run in five."

"I'm gonna smoke the shit outta you Ant!"

"You can try it Mikey."

The team laughed and we filed up to our running block, where we got into position. Each team has a block that they get ready in. Two runners up front, and the others fall into line behind those two. The two in the very front are supposed to be the best runners, the fastest out of the block to help keep the runners from bunching up.

I was in the front left position, next to me, was Ant. the others filed behind us depending on their PR. I set up my watch to start and cracked my neck, shaking out my legs.

A man with a starter pistol and megaphone in his hand walked out to the front of the race. "Good morning, runners! You will obey all New York High School Running Association rules, including but not limited to, no shoving, hitting, bad sportsmanship, purposely injuring other athletes, or giving a false start. If you run off the block before I fire this gun, you will be DQed. Our starting procedure will be On your marks, get set, and I will fire. This gun is a starter pistol. It does not fire real rounds, only blanks. You will not be in any danger from being hit by a stray projectile off of the start."

He stood back, "Runners, on your mark!"

The entire group took one step back from the line.

"Get set!"

We set our lead leg forward, like we were about to sprint. The entire race was silent.

BANG.

We took off with abandon, sprinting off the blocks, hoping to get in higher positions before the race gets to spread out. I knew I was going to be running faster than I was during the time trials, since I was in a proper race with other runners who had been running since they were kids as well. The first mile in and I started paying attention to my surroundings. I was in what I think was the front pack, since I didn't see anyone in front of us. I stepped around the guy in front of me, a tall and lanky guy in a green uniform. I'll call him Green.

I sped up slightly, knowing I was the new pace setter, he didn't seem to like that. He tried speeding up to a ridiculous speed, as if he was making a statement that he would be in the front no matter what. I laughed internally, this asshole was gonna burn himself out if he kept this on.

Why the hell not? I jogged forward, knowing I could keep this pace, since I had ran faster in the Labyrinth. I kept the heat on his ass, tearing around him, building up the pace I was running until I was close to sixty or seventy yards ahead of them when I relaxed a bit to a more comfortable pace, but still well ahead of the rest of the pack. I came around for the end of the first lap, the teams cheering on and I heard an awfully familiar voice and I looked a bit to the side. I saw Ava jumping up and down while waving at me. I grinned and waved my hand slightly.

Mile two was just as easy, barely feeling the strain and knowing I could run faster than this. I looked at my watch and raised my eyebrows. I was at a 4:50 pace and I knew I wouldn't need to slow down. This wasn't that hard, at least for a trained runner. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Green, who had somehow covered the distance. He was gasping and having trouble running, but he was keeping pace.

I mentally nodded in approval. This guy has heart. I didn't bother with the pace, knowing that he'd either fall off within the next mile or I could kick harder in the last couple hundred than him. The second mile went by, with Green clinging on. I came by at another lap and I didn't change my pace, seeing as Green kept on falling back before surging forward. Within half a mile, he had fallen off, the gap between us slowly growing. I kept the last half mile, before flying down the 160 meter stretch that was an offshoot of the mile loop. I blew past the finish line, not doing much other than breathing heavily and sweating. I felt I could do the entire thing over again!

Coach Scott pulled me into a hug, "That was amazing! You just ran a 15:01!"

I grinned, "It's only the first race of the season, that was way too easy. I can drop that time."

He clapped me on the shoulder as we walked over to the water table. "You damn well better, I'm expecting some great times from you."

I stopped at the water table, where Ava practically body slammed into me, pulling me into a hug. "That was awesome, Percy!"

I laughed, pouring a cup of water over my head, "Thank you, Ava."

"You're most welcome. By the way, the award ceremony is in, like, an hour. Oh, wait, the rest of the runners are coming in!"

I turned around and saw Green stumble across the finish line before throwing up in the grass. He was picked up by the medics and taken over to an air conditioned first aid tent. A little bit later, I wasn't keeping track, I saw Ant come across the finish line, before stumbling his way over to the water table.

"Hey, Ant! Good run, what was your time?"

He dumped a cup of water down his back, "Like 15:58, I think. You?"

"I think I ran a 15:01."

"First?"

"First."

"Sweet. What place was I?"

"I think you were fifth or sixth. I'm not too sure, though."

"Great. I'll meet you over at the team area, I'm gonna get an ice pack from the med tent."

We waited for a while, before the award ceremony. Being the first meet of the season, it wasn't that big, since a lot of people were still getting back into the swing of things.

The girls Varsity did their podium, then JV, then it got to the boys Varsity. "In third place, with a time of 15:54.11, of Belmont High School, is Grant Reynolds!"

His school cheered and we clapped, and he climbed up to the third place spot on the podium. "In second place, with a time of 15:51.34, of Bronxdale High School, is Markus Smith!"

It was his school's turn to cheer, and we clapped again. "First, with a whopping 14:59.58, of Goode High School, is Percy Jackson!"

I climbed the podium, a grin on my face. We were given our medals and our pictures taken for the small, local paper.

We got off the podium and the announcer continued. "We have our official placings."

He started off with fifteen and worked his way up to the top three, when I started paying attention again. "In third place overall, we have Long Island High School. In second place, we have Oak Hill High School. Now, in first, taking positions 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th, is Goode High School!"

We cheered and we went up to the stage getting our trophy. The teams dispersed soon afterwards and we got back on our bus to drive the hour back to Goode.

Ava laid in the seat across from me, propping her feet up on my lap. I huffed and started flicking her feet and screwing with her shoe laces.

"Ugh, Perrrcyyyy! You're gonna screw up my shoes."

"That's the plan."

"Well stop, or I'll… I'll…"

"You'll what?"

She just huffed, crossing her arms. "I don't know, but I'll do something."

"Sure you will. Sure you will."

The ride was silent in the back of the bus. Despite the win, everyone was tired and wanted to sleep. I could fall asleep, I mean, I'm a teenager. Of course I can sleep. I just didn't feel exhausted, like I should have. 3.1 miles just didn't cut it for me.

I thought about how far I had ran in the past, running for hours on end through the labyrinth, running across Manhattan during the war, running across half of the United States, I just knew I could do bigger.

10K? Half Marathon? Hell no. Go big or go home.

I'm gonna run a Marathon.

_**Hello, all. If you have any ideas, please let me know! Reviews are greatly appreciated, the more interaction I have with my readers the more motivated I am to push out content.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**AEceros: Seems like a pretty chill story. I like the characterization so far, so I think it would be fun to follow this story for a while. Ava seems like a strong contender for an OC pairing with how much screen time you've given her. Not bad in all honesty, though it's early and later developments will have to increase her character depth if she's to remain interesting. I'm really curious if you'll have the godly world intrude on him at all or not. I would honestly be fine either way; it's pretty chill and reminds me of my time on the Ultimate Frisbee team in college. Though, the development in the first chapter about Hekate's gift giving an extra store of energy seems pretty OP considering Percy's strong demigod presence. Either it's simply an unending store of energy for running or it could be a strong source of power during mythical fights.**_

**There's something really fun about playing a sport on a small team. I love it. I won't comment on the rest, it's better to keep some surprises. Thank you for the support!**

_**Just a fan of fics: Good second chapter Ava has been a pretty good OC so far and it's great to see Rachel, it's really great seeing a story about Percy just being a normal kid without all the mythological stuff getting him down.**_

**Thank you! Sorry to disappoint, but it won't stay like this for the entire story. A large majority of it, though, will be monster-free!**

_**Ihonestlyhavenoidea: Love it. The plot, everything is just perfect. Just one question though, do you plan on bringing Annabeth or other campers into the story?**_

**You'll get your answer in this chapter!**

_**You've turned an awesome story into a high school fic. No offence but it's just not my thing at all. Some sort of connection and plans for the supernatural world are necessary for it to actually be a Percy Jackson story.**_

**That wasn't my idea at all. I'm trying to play it a certain way, and high school will only be a plot filler.**

** Without further ado, on with the chapter!**

"So, what's the plan?"

I looked up at mom, who was leaning against the doorway to the dining room. I had gotten home from the race and almost immediately sat at the table with a notebook and my phone.

"How do you know I'm planning something?"

She rolled her eyes, before sitting across from me. "You came home, didn't even celebrate your 1st place medal, got cleaned up, then sat at the desk with a notebook and your phone rather than passing out on the couch. There's no way you're not planning something."

I nodded, "Fair enough. The race was fun, but it was too easy. I can run faster, I know that, but I want to run further. You know me, if I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do it big. So, I decided I want to train for a Marathon."

"I'm really not surprised. You never did anything small. Do you have one chosen so far?"

I nodded, "Yeah. I'm hoping to start at the Long Island Marathon. It's in four weeks on Saturday. I don't even have a Cross Country meet that weekend!"

Mom smiled fondly at me, not saying anything. I set down my pencil, "What? You're staring at me."

She rubbed my cheek, "It's like looking in a mirror."

"What do you mean?"

"I ran cross country when I was in middle and high school. I said something similar about the 5k and I got around to running 10ks and half marathons."

"Why did you stop?"

"I tore my ACL. When it healed I was so far out of practice, it would've taken me years to get back there. Then I went to college and started training again, but I had to get a job so that dropped and the rest is history. In my older age, I just don't have it in me to run that type of distance. I walk in Central Park occasionally now, though."

"I'm sorry…"

"This wasn't your fault, this happened long before you were even born. Don't worry. Now, what's your training schedule like?"

I sat up, knowing that since she changed the subject there wouldn't be a respectful way to go back to it. "Monday will be a medium distance run after practice, 15 miles. Tuesdays are mile repeats, a minimum of 5. Wednesdays are hills."

Mom interrupted me, "How will you do hills? We're in Manhattan, it's not like there are just fields with hills just hanging around."

"Goode has a dirt mound hill, probably twenty feet high. The football team uses it for sprint training."

"Oh, that's nice."

"I think so. Thursdays will be interval sprint training."

"What's your circuit?"

""I'll run a 100 meter, rest for 30 seconds, run 200, rest 30 seconds, run a 400, rest 30 seconds, run an 800, rest 30 seconds, run a 1600, rest 30 seconds, run an 800, rest 30 seconds, run a 400, rest 30 seconds, run a 200, rest 30 seconds, and run a 100. I'll rest for three minutes then repeat that six times."

"You really want to run a Marathon, huh?"

I nodded, "Hell yeah. If I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna win it. That's what I'm training for."

She just smiled, "I'm proud. Now, what's Friday?"

"Fridays are tempo runs."

"What's a tempo run?"

"I'll have a designated time limit and I'll run at my own pace for that time period to get a feel of my comfortable pace. I'll use that to understand my pace and find a better way to track it."

"We never did those. Really smart."

"Thank you! I found them doing research, since the biggest marathons don't allow you to wear a pacing watch, so I need to rely on myself."

"So, what do you do on Saturdays?"

"Well, I'll do my long runs on Saturdays. A minimum of 20 miles. Sundays are rest days, so I'll basically take ice baths, stretch, and do a very slow run, just to get the blood moving and remove lactic acid."

"How long will that run be?"

"Probably two miles. That's just the afternoon, though, and for the first week."

"Afternoon? Do you have something for the mornings? Does it change every week?"

"Yeah! Every morning I have something and it gets harder every week. Do you just want to see my schedule?"

She nodded and I slid my notebook over to her. She looked down and read as I put it into my phone, so I'd have the alarms to wake up and so I'd always know what I'm doing, even if I don't have my notebook.

Week 1

SUN (AM)- 10 miles, steady pace

SUN (PM)- 30 miles, same pace as AM

MON (AM)- 10 miles, steady pace

MON (PM)- 15 miles, same pace as AM

TUE (AM)- 10 miles, steady pace

TUE (PM)- Mile repeats (10)

WED (AM)- 10 miles, steady pace

WED (PM)- Hills, 5 miles of elevation climb

THUR (AM)- 10 miles, steady pace

THUR (PM)- Interval Sprint Training

FRI (AM)- 10 miles, steady pace

FRI (PM)- 60 minute tempo run

SAT (AM)- Race morning, no training

SAT (PM)- Long run, 20 miles

Week 2

MON (AM)- 12 miles, steady pace

MON (PM)- 18 miles, same pace as AM

TUE (AM)- 12 miles, steady pace

TUE (PM)- Mile repeats (10)

WED (AM)- 12 miles, steady pace

WED (PM)- Hills, 5 miles of elevation climb

THUR (AM)- 12 miles, steady pace

THUR (PM)- Interval Sprint Training

FRI (AM)- 12 miles, steady pace

FRI (PM)- 60 minute tempo run

SAT (AM)- Race morning, no training

SAT (PM)- Long run, 26 miles

Week 3

MON (AM)- 14 miles, steady pace

MON (PM)- 18 miles, same pace as AM

TUE (AM)- 14 miles, steady pace

TUE (PM)- Mile repeats (10)

WED (AM)- 14 miles, steady pace

WED (PM)- Hills, 5 miles of elevation climb

THUR (AM)- 14 miles, steady pace

THUR (PM)- Interval Sprint Training

FRI (AM)- 14 miles, steady pace

FRI (PM)- 60 minute tempo run

SAT (AM)- Race morning, no training

SAT (PM)- Long run, 26 miles

Week 4

MON (AM)- 15 miles, steady pace

MON (PM)- 20 miles, same pace as AM

TUE (AM)- 15 miles, steady pace

TUE (PM)- Mile repeats (10)

WED (AM)- 15 miles, steady pace

WED (PM)- Hills, 5 miles of elevation climb

THUR (AM)- 15 miles, steady pace

THUR (PM)- Interval Sprint Training

FRI (AM)- 15 miles, steady pace

FRI (PM)- 60 minute tempo run

SAT (AM)- Race morning, no training

SAT (PM)- Long run, 30 miles

Week 5 (Marathon week)

MON (AM)- 10 miles, race pace

MON (PM)- 15 miles, race pace

TUE (AM)- 15 miles, race pace

TUE (PM)- 20 miles, race pace

WED (AM)- 20 miles, race pace

WED (PM)- 25 miles, race pace

THUR (AM)- 25 miles, race pace

THUR (PM)- 30 miles, race pace, Ice bath

FRI (AM)- Sleep in

FRI (PM)- Plyos, stretch, ice bath

SAT (AM)- Marathon race

SAT (PM)- Ice bath

Mom slid it back to me, "You're gonna have to take full advantage of your demigod-ness for this to work."

"What do you mean?"

"It's an amazing schedule, don't get me wrong, but this is the type of schedule that Mo Farah or Eulid Kipchoge would run. You're not that fast yet and you don't have the same stamina as them."

"I mean, I need to be really trained for the marathon. I want to win."

"I'm going to let you do this, under one condition."

"What's that?"

"You have to sit, fully submerged at least up to your waist in water, for a minimum of three hours every day. You can eat dinner there, do homework, I don't care. But you have to use your water healing ability."

I nodded, "I can do that."

She nodded back, "Good. Then go ahead, I'll set up your meal plan."

"Meal plan?"

"Well, yeah. If you're gonna train like this you need to eat accordingly. I assume you don't want to be a scrawny runner?"

I shook my head, "Not a chance."

"Then I'll set you up with a big muscle diet. Red meat, Grilled chicken, salads, oatmeal, protein shakes, baked potatoes, pasta, the works."

"That'd be awesome!"

"Great. You'll have Breakfast before you leave in the morning, an after workout meal, lunch, dinner, and a late night meal. By the way, don't run within an hour of eating."

I nodded again. I'm doing that a lot. "Makes sense. Constant energy input and I won't cramp."

"Exactly. Now, I'll go shopping and I'll start meal prepping when I get back."

"Want me to join you?"

She shook her head, "No, you need to sleep. I want you rested up and ready to start on Monday. You need to be in top shape."

"So you're telling me to sleep?"

"Yes. Now go."

I hopped up from my chair and gave her a hug, "Wake me up when you get home. I want to help."

She nodded, "Okay. Go to bed, I'm heading out."

I did as she said, not complaining. It felt like I had just closed my eyes when I was woken up again, mom in the doorway. "You want to get started on meal prepping?"

I rolled out of bed, "Sounds like a plan. I want to actually help."

"You mean cooking? You want to help me in the kitchen?"

I rubbed my neck, "I mean, yeah. It seems like an important life skill."

She gave me an approving look, "Well, look at you. Acting like a grown up, huh?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, a big man right here. All grown up, looking into the real world."

She laughed, "My baby boy, I'm so proud."

"So, what are we doing first?"

"Spaghetti alla carbonara. We need to make seven servings. This will be your dinner every night until next sunday."

I nodded, "Sounds good. Now, what can I help with?"

She shrugged, "Nothing, really. This is a one person job. You can keep me company, though."

"Sounds like a plan."

We talked and cooked, me occasionally finding something to help with occasionally until Paul got home. After dinner, we started separating the food into tupperware containers. We said our goodnights and I got ready for bed, before setting my alarm to 03:00. I sighed, knowing waking up that until I got used to waking up that early this was going to suck. I closed my eyes, as I felt myself drift into Morpheus' realm.

"BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEE-"

I slammed my fist on the alarm clock, groaning. "Oh, for fucks sake."

I sat up in bed and swung my legs off. I sat there, with my elbows on my knees for a few seconds. "I'm really doing this shit, huh? Well, fuck it. Better get a move on."

I left the embrace of my sheets and pillows, getting dressed in my running clothes, before throwing sweat pants and a hoodie over it. I brushed my teeth and grabbed my breakfast that mom had set up for me the night before. I checked my watch, reading 3:30. I ate quickly, before walking to the parking garage and getting on my bike and zipping through the mostly empty streets towards Astoria Park.

Half an hour later at 4:00, I pulled off the road into the parking lot and did warm up stretches before my run. I set up my water bottles and started my watch, taking off at a light half mile jog to warm up. I did a couple plyometric stretches, like lunges and skipping high knees. I reset my watch and took a couple deep breaths. I checked my watch again, reading 4:10. I'd be running these 10 miles at a five minute pace, so I'd be done with the main run at 5:00.

I slipped my headphones in and took off at a run. Within the first mile, I had found my cadence and I knew I'd be in for a good run.

My brain seemed to perceive everything in slow motion, allowing me to think. The last couple weeks had been a clusterfuck of emotion, going through some of my lowest lows and some moderate highs.

What would I do about camp? Annabeth? God, it was all so confusing. The more I thought about it, she was definitely leading me on. I wasn't as dense as I pretended to be, but I'm not pretending to be intuitive with girls. I could tell that she was flirting a lot, it was hard to miss. Grabbing my hand when she would pull me somewhere around camp, the jealousy she showed anytime she was around Rachel, her giving me the kiss in the Labyrinth.

I checked my watch again, reading mile 6. I let myself wander back to my thoughts, continuing down the train of thought.

It was a lie. It was all a lie. The deeper I looked into it, I could start to understand how robotic her actions were, as if they were rehearsed. The way Annabeth was always hiding what she was doing, the panic in her eyes and the nervous smile that would play across her lips whenever she would shoot that one line, _'Don't worry about it, Seaweed brain.'_

It hurt, that wasn't something I could deny. It really did hurt, knowing that she had been hiding something all along, playing with his emotions when he had trusted her so explicitly. He thought that Annabeth felt the same way. I mean, afterall, it's not everyday that someone is willing to take a poisoned dagger for you.

I managed to rationalize it, just because someone doesn't like you doesn't mean they want you dead. I was the child of the prophecy, so she probably thought that by keeping me alive, she'd protect Olympus. I knew I couldn't escape my emotions forever, so I'd need to confront her later.

My wrist buzzed and I slowed down, checking my watch. 10 miles at a pace ranging from 5:01 to 4:59. I ran it in 49:58, so I had kept to my pace almost perfectly. I walked a lap around the track with my water bottle, letting my body cool down and to help reduce cramps. I finished the water and felt noticeably better, but not as well as I should have. It felt as if my connection with the water was almost… diminished? I don't know, but it wasn't as absolute as it used to be.

I checked my watch for the time, one more time and read 5:02. It made sense, I took a couple minutes to get dressed. And pack my bag back up. I ate the banana I brought, to help with cramps and recovery. I slung myself back over my motorcycle, strapping the helmet on and tearing out of the parking lot, at highly illegal speeds. Using a little bit of the mist, everyone ignored me and tore through the streets.

I got home and showered quickly, before sitting down for my next meal of eggs, bacon, toast, and milk. Mom had outdone herself, I tell you that. A quick shower later, I was feeling a bit better. Instead of getting out, since I was clean, I filled the bathtub with cold water and sat down, letting the ice water do its thing, allowing myself to relax. I set an alarm for thirty minutes and waited for it to go off. When it did, I got out and got dressed in my usual clothes now of days, blue jeans, a white v-neck, my brown leather jacket, and a pair of white Nike high tops that Aphrodite had given me.

I did a bit more stretching in my room, burning some time off, since I had got up really early. It was my new schedule for my school days, and I wasn't going to slack on the weekends. While I stretched, I got to thinking. It's been a while since I've seen Chiron. It'd be nice to visit camp again, as long as I didn't run into Annabeth.

I wrote a quick note, letting mom know where I was going. A quick walk and a ride later, I was on Long Island. I tucked myself closer to my motorcycle and gunned it, 65 miles an hour was seen and passed within a few seconds, and I soon passed 100, then 110, 120, 140, 160, 190, before keeping at 200 for the full run. I used my control of the mist to keep all the cars out of my lane and kept cars from crossing the road when I was practically flying down the road.

As I drove, I did the math in my head. From home, to camp, it's 114 miles. If I manage to run at 200mph perfectly for the entire run, then I'd get to camp in something close to 34 minutes, I think? Way faster than the almost two and a half it takes if you drive the speed limit, anyways.

I shut down my brain, since I needed to be on high alert. I expanded my sense over the water in the air, to see where the cars were for close to a mile ahead of me. That'd give me about 18 seconds of reaction to whatever may be happening up there to maneuver or slow down. I still needed to do this, since I was spreading the mist thin, almost beyond what I could control. It worked on regular mortals, but clear sighted mortals would just have a slight feeling that they shouldn't, but they'd still be able to do it.

I took the winding road, revelling in the speed everything was disappearing behind me. Using a bit of my already strained water powers, I kept a constant stream of water around the engine, keeping it from overheating.

I didn't have any problems with clear sighted mortals and soon started slowing down, coming to a halt at the bottom of Half-Blood Hill. I drove the motorcycle slightly into the woods, so it wouldn't be seen by anyone driving by and turned it off, giving it a chance to finally cool down. I was fighting a smile the entire way up the hill, my mind giddy with excitement from the insane speed I had just covered.

I crested the hill, seeing the camp just starting to wake up. Approaching the big house, I saw Chiron in his wheelchair with a mug of what I assumed to be coffee. Upon seeing me, he gave a light smile.

"Good morning, Percy. How are you doing today?"

"I'm doing pretty good, just wanted to visit. How's camp? Any more quests?"

Chiron lowered his head slightly, before rolling inside, "Let's sit down. There's something I need to tell you."

I nodded hesitantly, "Okay, what's up?"

I sat down on one of the couches and he clasped his hands in his lap. "I know the truth about what happened between you and Annabeth. However, she managed to get into the head of the campers."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, "She's convinced the campers that you left because you didn't like the demigods, that the only reason you used your wish as you did was to keep the minor gods from attacking you in vengeance, that you didn't really care for them at all. She led them to believe that you used them as cannon fodder to get the glory yourself."

I leaned back, in shock, "I- uh- what? Why would they believe that? Didn't I fight with them? Did they not see me at every pyre burned?"

"They did. However, immediately after the funerals and the award ceremony, you left. Annabeth is a daughter of Athena, as you well know. She's intelligent beyond belief and she's a master manipulator. I'm disappointed in her behavior. You may stay as long as you wish, know that you're always welcome here by Dionysus and I, however the campers may be more hostile towards you."

I nodded in understanding, my lips pressed in a thin line. "Thanks for the head's up."

He gave me a small smile, "Well, I've heard through the grapevine that you're planning on running a Marathon, hmm?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I am. Who told you? Mom?"

"Yes, she did. Would you mind sharing your training regime with me?"

"Not at all."

I pulled out my phone and showed it to him, "This is my plan going into it. Mom has me taking an ice bath before school everyday."

He looked over the list, "I'd recommend adding a saltwater aquarium solute to the water and letting it dissolve before adding the ice. As a son of Poseidon, you'll heal with saltwater faster."

"Good idea. I'll buy some from the pet shop on the way home."

Chiron tapped his chin a couple times. "How long are you spending in the water?"

"Thirty minutes, why?"

"As a son of Poseidon, you can spend as long in water as you want, the longer you're in the better it would be. Would it be possible for you to spend an hour after each run?"

"I mean, yeah. I guess. Would it really be necessary?"

"A runner takes about a week to heal from a run, and for the improvements they made to their body to take effect. Sitting in the right mixture of water and solutes would incite your healing ability to the point where you could jam a week's worth of healing into some time in the water. This is four full weeks of training, yes?"

"Yeah. Wha-"

He continued, cutting me off. "Four weeks so 28 days, two workouts a day, so 56 workouts in total. You could get the equivalent of a year and a month's worth of training in the space of four weeks."

My eyes widened, "Holy shit."

Chiron rolled his eyes, "Language, Perseus."

I blushed, "Sorry. But thank you."

He rolled to the door, "It was good talking to you, Percy. I need to go to breakfast, probably to keep Clarisse from killing anybody."

I nodded, "Yeah. The usual."

"Are you coming to breakfast?"

I shook my head, "No, I already ate at home. I have a pretty strict diet that I have to follow. Thanks, though."

I stood and we went outside, where we parted ways. "Well, Percy. Do enjoy yourself. Make sure to stop by before you leave."

"Will do, Chiron."

He stood from his wheelchair and trotted to the dining pavilion and I made my way to my cabin, ignoring the cold looks and whispers of the people leaving theirs.

"Percy?"

I turned around and saw Lou Ellen, a daughter of Hecate who never left for the Titans. My face broke out into a grin, "Hey, Lou. What's up?"

She kept a blank face, "Why are you here?"

"I was coming by to see you guys, just hang out, you know?"

She scoffed slightly, "Seriously? Why would you want to see us?"

"You're my friends."

"Really? Friends? After what you've said about us?"

"I really have no idea what you're talking about."

Lou rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "Don't act stupid. We can't keep up with sarcasm, right? We're weak minor demigods. We can't handle that type of stuff."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Lou clenched her fists, bringing them to her sides and yelled, "You're a fucking idiot, aren't you? Annabeth told us what you said! She told us how you really feel about us! About how you were using us as cannon fodder against our own siblings!"

"Really? You believe that?"

"Why the fuck wouldn't I? Annabeth knows you better than you know yourself! She told us, and frankly, she's always been better to us than you have been. She didn't send us to die. You did. Got that? You killed my brothers, sisters and friends. These deaths were your fault."

"I-"

Lou interrupted me, "They died because of you. You aren't welcome here anymore. Clear out your cabin and leave. Don't even try to apologize, you fucking idiot. We don't want your apologies, we want you gone."

I felt a tear roll down my cheek, before quickly wiping it away. Lou gave a cold laugh, "Oh, look at you. Crying. For what? Are you sad that you finally got caught? You're fucking pathetic."

"Everyone believes Annabeth?"

"No shit, yeah."

I took a deep breath before I glared back at Lou. "You're a special kind of fucking stupid, you know that?"

She reeled back in surprise and I continued, "I've never told anyone but Annabeth this, so it makes sense that you wouldn't know. My fatal flaw is loyalty. We fought for the same cause, so I would do anything to keep you alive. I nearly sacrificed my very soul to keep you safe. Everything Annabeth told you was a godsdamn lie."

"What's your proof? Frankly, I believe Annabeth over you."

My eyes hardened a bit and I set my jaw. "I swear on the Styx that everything I just said is truth."

Thunder rumbling in the sky and I spun away from her and walked to my cabin, ignoring her shocked expression. I guess Chiron was being completely honest. I knew he was, but I didn't want him to be.

I packed my stuff up, throwing away all my camp shirts, figuring I'd save a bit of space that way. I scrawled my address on a piece of paper and tossed a drachma on it. It disappeared in a pop and I knew Hermes had dropped it off at home.

I looked around, knowing I wasn't going to be back here for a while. I closed the door and headed to the dining pavilion, where I gave Chiron a hug, "I'm on my way home."

Chiron adapted a concerned look, "Did something happen?"

I nodded, "I ran into Lou, the daughter of Hecate. Had a few choice words for me on behalf of the camp. I don't want to be here anymore, if they're that willing to believe that I'm some evil asshole."

He sighed but nodded, "Stay safe, okay?"

I nodded back, "I will. By the way, do you have my phone number?"

He shook his head, "No, I don't. I don't have anything to write it down on right now, so I'll get it from Sally, is that good?"

I nodded again, "Yeah, I'll keep you up to date with my training."

"Thank you, Perseus. Take care."

"I will, you too. I'll see you later."

"Goodbye."

I ignored the stares from the campers again and kept a straight face as I walked over Half-Blood Hill and got back on my motorcycle, torquing the throttle and sending myself flying down the road at speeds that were again, highly unsafe.

_RING! RING! RING!_

I flinched, before realizing that the noise was coming from my helmet. I had checked out the helmet last week and found it had bluetooth, so I paired it to my phone. I clicked one of the buttons on my helmet and answered the call.

"Hello, who is this?"

I heard an easily recognizable laugh through the speaker. "It's me, doofus."

I grinned, despite knowing she couldn't see me. "Hey, Ava. What's up?"

"I'm just super bored."

"What are you doing?"

"I _was_ working on my car but I'm waiting on Ant to come by with a couple spark plugs but he's at work, so I'll be here for the next couple hours."

"Where's here?"

"Rent-a-Rage, that Garage rental place in Harlem. You know, where I work on my car?"

"Yeah, want me to come by? I'm free almost all day."

"Yeah, that'd be awesome!"

"Just send me the address, I'll be there soon enough."

"Sweet! I'll be waiting."

"You want me to bring lunch?"

"Percy, it's 8 in the morning."

"I'm in Montauk right now, and despite the fact that I'm driving way above the speed limit, it'll take me awhile to get there. Probably around 10."

She laughed, "Don't do anything too illegal."

I grinned, "No promises. What do you want for lunch?"

I could practically hear the smile in her voice, "Surprise me."

"Alright, I'll see you soon."

"See you."

She hung up and I continued riding, this time with a smile on my face.

I accelerated again, going faster in anticipation of actually having something to do with my day.

I got to the garage with a backpack full of food. Came to a stop in front of her unit and saw Ava with headphones on, sitting in a chair facing away from me. Me, being the mature and sensible person I am, snuck up behind her and picked her up along with the chair, just for her to scream and hit me in the jaw.

"Ugh, fuck."

She scowled at me, playfully. "You deserved it, asshole. Don't scare me."

I rubbed my jaw, pouting. "I came all the way out here with food just to get hit."

She rolled her eyes, "Thanks for coming out. Oh, by the way, this is my baby. Her name is Jamie. She's a 2013 Subaru BRZ."

"I'm gonna make a wild guess and say she's about as far from stock as humanly possible?"

Ava laughed, "What gave it away? The fact that the hood is carbon fiber, the bucket seats, or the massive wing?"

I rolled my eyes, "What's going on under the hood?"

She grinned, before going around and popping the hood. "She has a 6 psi turbocharger and she's been tuned to 450 horsepower. I've replaced all the hoses with silicone rubber and replaced the radiator with a race spec one."

She led me around to the driver's door and opened it. "I've replaced all the entire dash and almost every interior panel with carbon fiber or aluminum. A racing gear shift and steering wheel. Race spec rims, brembo brakes, and Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires. She's about as good as she's gonna get."

"Bet my bike is faster."

Ava just scoffed, "No shit, that thing is barely street legal. Of course it's faster. But guess what?"

"What?"

"I can ride mine during winter without dying."

"Fine, you have me there."

"Damn right I do. Now, what food did you bring?"

I blushed and took off my backpack and we walked further into the garage, where she had a workshop table covered in tools.

"You have somewhere for me to put all this? I brought a lot."

Ava raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I do. Let me pull this out…"

She slid a folding table out from behind a huge, rolling tool chest. I dropped my backpack on it and unloaded it.

"I brought Taco Bell, Chipotle, McDonalds, Subway, Pizza Hut, and Chick Fil A."

"Jesus, why did you buy so much?"

"You told me to surprise you…"

"Well, this sure as shit is a surprise. Thank you, so much!"

"No problem. Take what you want, I'm not eating any of it."

"What? Why not?"

"I'm on a pretty strict diet now."

"Why it's not like you're in bad shape. Far from it, actually."

"It's a training diet, I'm getting ready for a big race."

"What race? If it's cross country, we don't have a big race for another, like, three months."

"Nah, not cross country. I'm running the Long Island Marathon."

"Isn't it in, like, 4 weeks or something?"

"Yeah, four weeks. I've been training for a while, but I'm cleaning up my diet in preparation. Don't want to cramp during the run and I'm trying to win. I need to be in the proper shape to do it."

"Well, good luck. Isn't that the one sponsored by one of the car dealerships here?"

"Nah, not a dealership. There's this dream car lottery thing in the UK. It's called Best of the Best and they want to expand to America and this is their US opener thing."

"Cool! Do you get something from them if you win?"

"Yeah. I get a surprise car. What it is, I don't have a clue but it has to be something pretty cool."

I paused for a second, "I probably won't be able to afford the insurance, either."

We laughed and continued talking for a while. Ant dropped by and grabbed the Taco Bell before leaving again to do who knows what.

I glanced down at my watch and sighed. "I've got to get going. I have training to do."

"For the marathon? Seriously? Today's our only off day for cross country."

I smiled and shrugged, "Not for me, really. Our 5k workouts aren't hard for me, so I don't ever go home really tired afterwards."

"You're insane. Well, I should probably get heading home too. It's my turn to cook dinner tonight."

We said our goodbyes and I drove back to the apartment building just to grab my running bag and a quick bite to eat before driving off again, back to Astoria Park for my afternoon run. I pulled up my phone and checked the afternoon workout.

30 miles, same pace as this morning. I repeated my warmup process from this morning and took off at the same pace as then. 5 minute pace for thirty miles, so… two and a half hours of straight running. Might as well get started. I was slightly annoyed, having to run around everyone I was passing, since this was a public track.

"Why are you running out here? You'll never be able to get a pace if you're constantly swerving around people."

I glanced to the side and saw Hermes jogging beside me, where he definitely wasn't before. "I can't afford anywhere else. I don't have a job, you know."

Hermes just rolled his eyes. "That wasn't what I was asking. You know you just had to ask and I'd get you set up, right? You're my friend, I'm going to make sure you're prepared for the race. You've run, what? A mile?"

"Not even, I'm on my third lap."

"Stop, You'll never train for a professional pace in an environment like this."

I did as he asked and he continued, "There's a place in West Manhattan, Chelsea Pier Fitness. Indoor, temperature controlled facility."

"How far away is it from home?"

"From your apartment, probably 15 minutes, maybe? It's not that far. It's really nice, too. A boxing ring, massages, basketball, and just about anything you could want. It's a full, indoor 400 meter track. They also have a cafe, convenience store type thing."

"Sweet! Let's head over there then."

I went to get on my bike and Hermes just rolled his eyes, putting a hand on my shoulder and the other on my bike. "Close your eyes."

I did as he asked and felt myself be teleported. I opened my eyes and I got off my bike and he led me inside. He got me set up on an account and hesitated, "Head over to the track, I'll meet up with you in a bit."

He jogged over back to the front desk and I shrugged, walking off to the locker room and dropping off my bag. Since I was already in my running clothes I didn't need to change I just walked to the track and waited for Hermes to come before I started running.

Hermes came out of the door and tossed me a card. "Here. Scan this when you go to the cafe. Free food and other stuff."

"Damn, thanks man."

"No problem. Eh, I can take a few hours off. Let's get this run started."

We took off at a jog, making sporadic small talk throughout the run until we got to about mile twenty five. I was breathing deeply enough that I couldn't talk without screwing up my cadence. Hermes glanced at me when I didn't respond to his question and I just made a gesture towards my chest heaving.

Hermes nodded, "Want to just talk telepathically? Just think and I'll hear it. Only if you want to, though."

I nodded hesitantly and spoke between breaths, "Yeah. That'd be good."

"_So, what I had asked was how you've been training for your marathon?"_

I blinked a couple times, in hopes that it'd make hearing Hermes' voice ringing in my head any easier to bear. _"Do I just think?"_

"_Yes, Percy. Just think."_

"_Well, I don't really know. I have an idea, but it's a rough one that I haven't really planned yet. Mostly just races I want to run"_

"_Give me the rough one then."_

"_Well, I know I want to run that big marathon thing that goes around the world. Apple Marathon Majors, or something like that."_

"_You mean the Abbott World Marathon Majors?"_

"_Yeah! That's it. I want to do that, the Dubai Marathon, the Seoul Marathon and the Tokyo Marathon."_

Hermes nodded, _"The Dubai Marathon is huge, I can see why you'd want to do it. They pay, what was it, a quarter million? $250,000?"_

"_Yeah! If you run a world record you get another $100 grand!"_

"_Sweet, I can see why you'd want to run it."_

"_Yeah. It'll take a few years for me to get there, though. Flying to Dubai is stupidly expensive."_

Hermes was silent for a second, _"I could sponsor you."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I mean, I have a couple companies. The one that I was thinking was my primary one, _Hermès_."_

"_Isn't that a French designer brand?"_

"_Yeah. It was originally a joint company between Uncle P and I. It started as horse saddles and just kind of evolved from there. Uncle P moved on to other companies. He mostly builds luxury yachts now in his freetime so he sold his portion of the company to me."_

"_Damn, I never knew."_

"_We're gods, we get bored with all the time on our hands, we might as well have some fun with it. Anyways, back to what I had asked, do you want a sponsorship? We'll do things like fund your transport, hotels, and running gear. You'd get some perks, like basically free clothes and travelling the world to events to represent us."_

"_Hell yeah! That'd be awesome!"_

"_Great! We'll get the mortal paperwork done tonight."_

"_Wait a sec… I'm going to be in the mortal world, doing mortal things. I'll need to have a backstory as to how a young, American, rookie on the Marathon stage would be really confused about how I got a designer sponsorship?"_

Hermes didn't respond for a few seconds again,_ "I have a mortal identity, currently Axel Dumas. I'm still the CEO of Hermès. I'll say I was here in New York and I decided to partake in the Long Island Marathon. I'll say I saw something in you and that I could tell there was something about you that I knew you would be great. We talked for a while and I offered a full sponsorship."_

"_... That would work. You're a quick thinker, you know that?"_

He mentally scoffed, _"Of course I am. I'm the god of speed and thieves. I have to be quick. So, I'll take and meet you at the race?"_

"_Sounds like a plan."_

We came to a halt on the track, having just finished our 120th lap. We said our goodbyes and parted ways, me heading home and Hermes to do whatever gods do. I guess I had also decided what language I was going to learn in school. Hell, if I'm going to be sponsored by a French company I might as well learn to speak French.

I can't wait for the marathon, but I need to keep up with my 5ks. Next Saturday is the next race, so I better run my ass off.

I opened my apartment door and waltzed into the living room, where mom and Paul were reading. Paul looked up at me over his glasses, "Hey, Percy. How was your day?"

I dropped my bag on the ground and dropped onto the couch, "You're not gonna believe what I'm about to tell you."

_**Hello! If you have something you'd like me to include, feel free to PM me or comment.**_


End file.
